Monday, November 7, 2011

How's Your Parish Doing with the New Roman Missal?

So, what is going on in your parishes as we are now less than three weeks from the full implementation of the new Roman Missal (3rd Edition)? My parish has already distributed new Order of Mass cards, by Magnificat, and yesterday was the first time we used the new Gloria in Mass. Although I need to find out the composer of the new Gloria setting, I found it to be quite beautiful.

At the high school where I teach, all of the theology teachers have devoted three days to discussing the new Missal. All in all, the kids have been very receptive to it. We will have our first school Mass, with the new Missal, on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception on December 8th.

20 comments:

Dan Z.
said...

My parish has been doing good (but not great) in this area. We have already started using the new "settings", but I'm a little disappointed the musical director chose "the Mass of joy and peace", as it has the same sugary folk-pop style music as the older mass settings. I was really hoping for more chant.

I understand one nearby parish hasn't done anything yet, as the pastor still thinks the whole thing will be called off at the last second due to pressure and outrage from the left wing.

Well, that pastor at the neighboring parish is delusional. He is also doing a great disservice to his people. As of the first week of Advent, the old Sacramentary is not permitted to be used any more according to the USCCB.

Our parish started practicing the new Gloria and the Acclamation (Hosanna)a couple of months ago and have been using it in the mass for the past month. About one month ago, our pastor made Mass Pew cards available to everyone with the new changes. And since we have permanent song books (with the readings in them), inserts with the new order of the mass were attached in the back inside cover of each book.

My parish in Spokane has the people's parts in the new translation -- "and with your spirit," new Gloria, new Creed, etc. This last weekend was the first one with the new prayers and things were a little bumpy, but not too bad.

We have cards in the pews for us to us, and a pamphlet was available for people to take home to study the new responses.

Sadly (very very sadly) there is a large number of delusional liberals who are fighting tooth and nail to the very end to stop the restored English translation of the Mass, if you look at the National Catholic Reporter website.

A couple thoughts: where were all these people who are against "change" when the ordinary form was introduced in 1970?

And, when the ordinary form was introduced, and most bishops in error surpressed and forbid the extraordinary form, many Catholics who were attached to it formed the schismatic Society of St Pius X. Will these liberals form a schismatic "Society of Pope Paul VI" to continue to celebrate the paraphrased English translation of 1970? Then they can also do their other pet causes like ordaining woman and married men, supporting gay marriage, abortion, birth control, pornography, and all the rest.

My opinion on the second question is "no they won't", because I honestly don't think there are any Catholics who are truely attached to the ordinary form in the same way that Catholics were attached to the extraordinary form. If, in a couple years, the Vatican were to announce that the ordinary form will be overhauled to be either the 1965 Missal (which was what Vatican II intended the Liturgy to be like), or possibly the Anglican Use Liturgy, there would be the usual outrage from the far left, but I think the vast majority of Catholics would grumble for a little while, then just accept it, and quickly grow to love it far more than Paul VI's Novus Ordo.

My parish has 4 "Sunday" English masses and at each one there is a different level of preparation. At the Saturday evening mass they sings the new hymns and acclamations and at the Sunday evening mass still they sing the current hymns.

We had a series of four sessions about the new translation at my parish's youth group program, and the pastor has spoken about some of the changes in homilies. We're promised cards that will stay in the pews but they have yet to materialize.

I certainly hope things go well with the adoption of the new translation. There wouldn't be a need for a new "SSPVI" because there are already many groups outside the Church that could fill that role. I'd be surprised if the Womenpriest movement, for instance, started using the 3rd Edition. There is a threat, I imagine, of people acquiring old Sacramentaries from parishes and using them in their own worship.

At our parish of Ste Genevieve, the pastor is making a strong effort to prepare us for the changes. There was a booklet given out to all parishioners some time back; beginning in October both priests speak about the changes at all masses until advent; and the bulletin makes announcements regarding specific changes each week. The parishioners' attitudes seem to range from apathy to excitement. I haven't heard any actual opposition.

I guess there's some benefit to being a Melkite attending the Tridentine Mass after all.

I didn't even know about this, and still don't really get what's going on - I suppose it's a conservatizing of the NO Mass to try to bring it back into conformity with the Latin rubrics (for the NO Mass, not the EF) of Rome?

No, its not a "conservatizing" of the ordinary form. The English translation of the NO was flawed from the beginning, in 1970. It was more of a paraphrase than a translation. This new translation is a restoration to correct all the (somewhat intentional) errors of the ICEL translation.

To put it in perspective, all other vernacular translations across the world match the Latin EXCEPT for English. This is something that needed to be done, and should have been done long ago.

I'm English, and our parish priest has gradually introduced the new Mass translation over a period of several months. We're actually pretty used to it now - it's a great improvement. Our Gloria is now plainchant which is quite beautiful, and a vast improvement on the old 'frog-went-a-courting' type folk abominations we used to hear at Holy Mass in the past.I don't know whether you folks would know this, but in the UK we have a Catholic newspaper called 'The Universe', and some years ago the then editor of this paper - thinking he was doing great service to the Church - wrote an editorial pointing out that the NO English Mass we were currently using at the time contained over 400 translation mistakes. The Bishops went berserk, along with the entire left of the Church in the UK, and the chap was forced out of his job within a week! This revision is long overdue, and very welcome. As well as being grateful to our Holy Father, Benedict XVI for yet another change for the better, we should remember the role that Blessed John Paul II played in all of this, and his refusal of so many drafts of this new translation submitted to him that just were not good enough.

Just one more quick thing: our new missals are being produced by the Catholic Truth Society, and are absolutely beautiful (google it and take a look!). If that picture you have posted above is the actual design of the new missal for you folks in America, I have to say it is absolutely awful! That looks like the kind of monstrosity they were actually putting out when the NO was introduced in 1970! If our new missal looked like that I'd have to dress up in a false beard and spectacles before I'd leave the house with it.

The new liturgy is an attempt to turn back the clock on Vatican II and against its principles. I quote: "The rites should be distinguished by a noble simplicity; they should be short, clear, and unencumbered by useless repetitions; they should be within the people's powers of comprehension, and normally should not require much explanation." (Constitution on the liturgy, No.34). I predict that it will lead not to any resurgence but a big drop in the numbers. Just wait and see!

The "new liturgy" as you call it is the same ordinary form we have always had. How is it going against Vatican II's principals??

All vernacular translations across the world match the Latin EXCEPT for the English. Are you trying to say that only the old, flawed ICEL paraphrase translation meets Vatican II's approval, while the Latin and all other vernacular translations don't?

Please explain this accusation you have made with documented evidence.

This is actually what I meant by conservatizing. How else can one conservatize the Missal? It's still in English; the Missal can't kneel to receive; the Missal can't speak out against feminizing language: so on.

(The below definitions are quite abridged and not the most accurate, but illustrate the point.)

It has much the same meaning in literary criticism, and nearly everywhere except for politics. To be "liberal" or "loose" with a text, or to treat it in a "liberal" manner, is to engage in borderline eisegesis (or, in this case, paraphrase): to treat the text in a "conservative" manner is to ensure that one doesn't draw out more or less than actually is present in the text (albeit this has become nearly as unpopular as conservative politics in modern liberal arts schools).

Ex, in Biblical studies:

"Did you see James' essay on the Book of Ezekiel having to do with space aliens coming to earth to teach man fire? What a loose interpretation!"

"Did you see the Concordant Version of the Bible? I've never seen such an utterly conservative handling of the text... How does Genesis 1:20 go again? And the flying flyer was flying over the upper water?"

That is, a text that is interpreted loosely is handled liberally, a text that has, for lack of a better word (I know, don't define a word with itself) been handled in a cautious or conservative manner is handled conservatively. This is making the new English Missal more conservative, in the sense that it's more faithful to the Latin, and less interpretation.

@Chrysostom, I get what your saying, but not sure if "conservatizing" is a real word. Perhaps a more accurate word would be "conservating".

@anonymous, what evidence do you have that the new translation will cause a drop in the numbers of Mass attendees (or in the religion itself)? If anything, that is what has been happening over the last 40 years with the poor ICEL translation, while parishes and communities that offer the extraordinary form, and a more reverent and traditional ordinary form are steadily growing and getting stronger, not just in Mass attendence, but in vocations.

If you fear the new translation has words that can't be comprehended by the ordinary person, then you are admitting the teacher's union and public school system has failed several generations of children.

It's obvious the American grammar school system has failed miserably, as evidenced by the fact that the original reading-level scales, published in the 1970s, are so off-mark today. A work that scored a 9 on the old reading scales is an actual 12 today. A 12 is for English majors.

Compare a textbook in any subject, even a static one, such as the Calculus, from then and now, and the difference will be just as remarkable.

As far as "conservatizing", if it's not a word (it probably isn't), I reserve the right to coin neologisms, which I do frequently exercise. If the depth of thought is not matched by the depth of language, the language must be enhanced, not the thought neutered.

I have had to rely entirely on the Notre Dame Center for Liturgy website and the USCCB website to get all my information. The Notre Dame website is outstanding. Our parish has done absoultely nothing to get us ready. I get the impression they are praying it will all go away. I am looking forward to the changes. I made it through the change from Latin to English so I expect to make it through this also.

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My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it. Therefore will I trust you always, though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.